We got the chance to speak with Dan Milewski from Irth Online, one of the MMO games that is slowing gaining an audience on the internet. The game really seems to grab the crux of what MMO games are about and put it to good use. Let's hear what he had to say.

First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions for our readers. So, please tell us a bit about Irth online and how it differs from some of the other MMORPG games available.How many players does Irthonline currently have registered?I’m not sure really as we’re still in a significant growth stage and we’re selling more games daily so the numbers are increasing steadily. You have to keep in mind that Magic Hat Software is not a big giant software company. We’re comparable to a Garage Band in Rock n’ Roll terms. We literally were just friends who started the project in Alan Chipura’s basement. So we really didn’t have tons of cash to throw at marketing initiatives. We used the resources that we had to build a great game. We were approached pre-launch by a major publisher who wanted to release the game for us but we didn’t want to sell our souls in the process giving up creative control and IP. So we decided to climb the MMORPG marketplace mountain one careful and calculated step at a time.Can you tell us a bit about the class and job structure of the game? What are the tank classes, the mage classes, etc?We have no classes. We have designed the game to prioritize player freedom. Our game design does not box players in with predefined sets of static attributes and characteristics. We have an open skill system. Players choose from one of four civilizations and then begin to develop their character in any way they feel is appropriate. There are currently about 50 professions that players can develop and more professions are added routinely. Players can mix up any variety of skills and professions they wish to pursue. If players do not like what their character has become they can change the character by doing different things and developing new skills and professions. So it’s modeled after real life. If you don’t like who you have become, change yourself, do something different, become whoever you want to be.

Can you give us the backstory for the world of Irth, we have heard it features an epic tale. Please tell us a bit about it.The entire Irth was once ruled by humans through a single monarchy. The civilization had grown to great prosperity by the efforts of non-human slave labor. In an act of divine censorious retribution a virulent plague fell upon the ancient people. The resulting effect divided the kingdom into separate groups. This is how it happened:At the height of the ancient civilization’s prominence three main characters had significant influence over the population; King Darus, the King’s Cousin Lord Shantimar, and High Prophet Vestus Ferrum whose sister was married to Shantimar. Ferrum had a prophetic vision which predicted the monarchy’s fall if Darus would not change his slave policy. The self righteous king took exception to this as a challenge to his majestic authority. Shantimar’s wife who was Ferrum’s sister and the King’s cousin in-law demonstrated unwavering loyalty to her brother Vestus Ferrum. The king believed that such division among the royal family would manifest itself into divided sentiment across the kingdom. Therefore the King ordered Shantimar to control his wife to protect royal family sovereignty. In reaction to the king’s directive, Shantimar had his wife publicly executed as an example to others who might demonstrate behavior interpreted as a challenge to royal rule. Ferrum was devastated and called out for divine retaliation against Shantimar. Ferrum stood upon his pulpit and cried out, “But hardened, what darkness through a distant heart falls. It is anguish, and Shantimar its master. My sister lay dead at the hands of demonic injustice. I call upon all Wonder, to curse thee Shantimar!" Subsequently, Shantimar was stricken with plague.

The plague had reached epidemic proportion. Showing no partiality, The King had ordered all plague victims, including Shantimar, to be exiled to what was thought to be uninhabitable swamps. The king was disgusted with Shantimar and all plague victims for he believed they were examples of the weak not suitable to be subjects of royal nobility. He was furious with Ferrum for he instigated civilization divide.Shantimar blamed Ferrum for his hideous condition through the castigation of plague and was equally angered at the king for his exile. Shantimar was of royal bloodline, and if given certain circumstances and conditions, he or his direct descendants could have become king or queen. None of that was now possible for he was nothing but a plague inflicted exile.